September 19: Very serious times

The true news about the protests is about long, careful preparation for the anniversary of 9/11. The anti-Islam video is a flimsy patsy.

Letters 521.
(photo credit:Thinkstock/Imagebank)

Very serious times

Sir, – Those who depend only on your lead stories read on
September 16: “What began as a small protest against an amateurish film mocking
and maligning the prophet Muhammad has mushroomed into a full-scale
international crisis....” (“Muslim riots spread across Middle East, North
Africa”).

That’s not accurate reporting.

It’s editorializing. The
true news is about long and careful preparation for the anniversary of 9/11 and
onward. The video is a flimsy patsy.

The Page 3 documentation in the same
issue by Zvi Mazel (“Cairo = Benghazi: The writing was on the wall,” Analysis)
represents the serious study of issues that surround these events, from which a
reader should criticize the superficiality of the “hooks” to the first
story.

The Jerusalem Post should be more careful. We are in existentially
very serious times. Help us read with confidence.PESACH GOODLEY Telz

Stone Sense and sensors

Sir, – Ben Hartman’s “‘It’s the Wild West down there’”
(September 16) is very well written and informative, telling us exactly what is
going on along the Egyptian border. What surprises me is that the fence lacks
electronic sensors that indicate whether someone is touching it or has broken
through.

When I did my combat reserve duty until the late 1990s in the
Jordan Valley, the fence there had sensors as well as outposts every 20
kilometers. This enabled us to know instantly if there was any type of
breach.

These features would make it a lot easier for our troops to
really protect what is now a very hostile border.

MURRAY JOSEPH Kiryat
Motzkin

More on Stevens

Sir, – That The Jerusalem Post chose to publish a letter
(“Slain diplomat,” September 16) that said there was “little reason” to mourn
the death of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and that his assassination was
“poetic justice” and even “schadenfreude” was unutterably shameful and
appalling. A red line was crossed.

The writer may harbor whatever twisted
malice and anti-Americanism he likes. It is the Post that owes the people and
government of the United States a heartfelt apology, not least to the US
ambassador to Israel, who walks in similarly vulnerable footsteps.

That
the Post would dignify this with publication is shocking.

JAMES ADLER
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Sir, – US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was
sacrificed on the altar of his president’s misguided and naïve Middle Eastern
policies. Barack Obama should do the decent thing and resign
immediately.

DAVID S. ADDLEMAN Mevaseret Zion The dogma endure

Sir, –
While I welcome and embrace British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s positive and
tolerant attitude toward today’s Christianity (“The cost of hate,” Comment &
Features, September 16), we must not ignore the fact that many Catholic children
apparently are still being taught prejudicial dogma from centuries ago.

A
few years back, while organizing a charity bike ride in the west of Ireland, I
was in a village pub getting coffee when a Guinness- drinking local asked me
where I was from. “Born in the UK but now living in Israel,” to which he
replied, “Is that right?” A few moments later he walked toward the door, turned
around and, looking straight at me, declared: “They killed Christ, didn’t they?”
and abruptly left.

CHAIM FACHLER Netanya

‘Treif’ kippot

Sir, – As an
observant Jew and attorney specializing in intellectual property, I found a few
points deserving comment in “Spider Man versus Kippa Man” (September
14).

First, use of the term “illegal” in describing the sale of such
kippot implies that these sales constitute activity. They don’t.
Trademark infringement is a civil matter.

Second, the defendant’s
statement that he merely imports merchandise from China (which I take as an
admission of infringement), and his competitor’s comment that “maybe [the
plaintiffs] hate the Jews,” are as misguided as they are pathetic.

Marvel
Comics invested in building the Spiderman brand.

Given that customers
seeking kippot could have purchased plain ones, it is clear that the kippot in
question were being bought specifically because they bore the likeness of
Spiderman.

The defendant thus chose to benefit from Marvel’s investment
without paying for that benefit.

In Jewish law you have to pay for such a
benefit. There is nothing anti-Jewish about Marvel enforcing its
rights.

Moreover, if the defendant had been selling meat, would he dare
say he bought it in China and only assumed it was kosher? It is his
responsibility to check the “kashrut” of his merchandise, and if it isn’t kosher
to either “kasher” it by paying Marvel for a license to sell it or stop selling
it altogether.DANIEL FEIGELSON Rehovot

Sir, – Kippa Man is one of the
nicest people I’ve ever met.

Instead of a lawsuit wherein only lawyers
will profit, all Marvel had to do was request that Avi Binyamin remove the
kippot from sale, which apparently he already has done, and perhaps ask for
nominal compensation.

The $100,000 Marvel might get from the suit
wouldn’t make a dent in its financial statement.

If there ever was a case
of mega-corporation vs the little man, this is it. I just hope that in this case
the nice guy does not finish last.AVRAHAM FRIEDMAN Modi’in Illit

He states that the only way to achieve this non-coercively
is with positive inducements, mainly in the form of generous economic
incentives. This would have to be done, he explains, in tandem with massive
informational and diplomatic efforts by Israel so as to persuade the
international community of the scheme’s moral and political validity.

For
the time being, of course, such an idea would be rejected out of hand throughout
the Arab world – except, perhaps by many of the refugees themselves.

In a
less cynical, more honest world, Sherman’s suggestion that Arabs of the West
Bank be settled in neighboring countries could work. In a less cynical, more
honest world, the Arabs long ago would have been told by world leaders and the
general media that there was no reason in the first place for the Palestinian
refugee problem or for the endless wars with Israel. They would have been
severely admonished that this problem was a direct result of resorting to war
with the intention of destroying Israel in 1948 and 1967.

Sherman’s
ideas, as far-fetched as they seem, are the most rational to date. But they will
only work when more and more people everywhere begin to understand and fully
practice all the principles of truthfulness. It’s a far larger subject than most
people realize, but it’s the only way to prevent or solve
conflict.

Indeed, it’s naïve to expect otherwise.

RALPH DOBRIN
Jerusalem

Two-way benefit

Sir, – It is surely a relief to see that the Egyptian
army has finally taken back full control of Sinai from terrorist bands
(“Egyptian officer: Cairo, Jerusalem coordinate on Sinai security sweep,”
September 9).

It is therefore possible for discussions between Egypt and
Israel that will enable the renewal of piped natural gas supplies, which would
be exceedingly good for the economies of both countries.